Finding Herself Lost
by gottaloveLeoV
Summary: Carmen is a daughter of Hephaestus, and has everything going for her until Chiron sees it fit to send her and her half brother Leo on a quest with three very interesting strangers. OC/OC in future chapters. Rated T for possible future violence/romance.
1. OC's

**HEY! So im writing this new story, and I just thought I'd tell you about some of the OC's that I've created (:**

**Carmen Dicaprio:** she's a daughter of Hephaestus, and not afraid to show it. She's originally from Ohio, but she got dropped off at camp when she was twelve (one year after TLO). She has a mom and a step-dad, and they treat her well enough. She doesn't have any half siblings that aren't demigods. She has medium length wavy brown hair and light hazel eyes like her mothers. She stands at 5'8 and is 14 ½. She gets along well with her cabin mates, and most of the other campers around camp with a few exceptions. Though she puts up a 'nice front' in front of Simon Carmichael, she really thinks he's kind of annoying. It's not that she has anything against the Apollo cabin; it's just that she feels like their personalities are too 'sunny' for her. She loves sports, but mostly running track and field. She's really smart, so at first when she got to camp they thought she might have been an Athena kid, but she knew she was a Hephaestus kid before she was claimed because her mother had told her. Unlike her siblings, she isn't very handy with her hands. She has the brilliance of coming up with new machines and weapons, but she has trouble actually making things, which is why whenever she completes a successful project everyone is generally proud of her. Especially Leo. She has a semi-close relationship with Leo, because they both share the ability to create fire (though Carmen's ability is far less powerful then Leo's). She is generally a happy person, but shy when it comes to talking about girly things. She's more like a tomboy, like the rest of her half sisters. Carmen is an all around general fighter, though her strengths have proven in armed close combat and unarmed close combat.

**Simon Carmichael:** he is a son of Apollo who loves to talk. He stands at a fair height at 5'11 for a fourteen year old, and has light brown hair and eyes to match. He looks generally nothing like his Apollo siblings, because back when he was conceived, Apollo had been trying out the 'brunette' type, and his genes happened to carry down to Simon. Simon obviously loves music, and plays the drums. He's had a major crush on Carmen ever since she accidentally walked into Will Solace at camp fire one night, and she was so embarrassed to talk to him that she threw up. He was told by Will to escort her to the infirmary so she could lie down. Like most of the Apollo kids, he can't fight with a sword, but prefers a bow and arrow. And if he can't have a bow and arrow, he likes to have some hunting knives strapped to his shins or his forearms, ready to use in dangerous situations. He's a very talented healer, so he's always called upon in the middle of a lesson to aid someone who's had an injury, and even though sometimes he likes being pulled out of a class, he gets mad because he feels like everybody else is getting a step up on him. Simon is normally a very curious, preppy person to be around like most of his siblings, but when he talks to people he doesn't know all that well, he tends to back off and see what they're like before fully exposing himself.

**Benjamin Meier:** Ben is a magician that has come all the way from Florida to train with Carter and Sadie, and like everyone else; he found the amulet in his gym locker at school. Ben was a competitive swimmer before he learned his heritage, and told his mom that he had been accepted to a boarding school over in Brooklyn for a swimming scholarship. Ben stands around 6 foot, with curly dark brown hair and dark blue eyes, and looks similar to a Hermes kid. He's chosen to follow the path of Horus along with Carter, so they are close. He likes Sadie, but he finds that she can be a tad annoying when she complains about something in America, and how it's not like back in England. He really likes Walt though, because he can calm Sadie down by talking to her, and then it saves them a bunch of time when it comes to cleaning up the mess of her rampages. Over all, Ben likes training as a magician at Brooklyn house, and can't imagine what his life would be like if he was still at home. He's gone on a few missions with Walt, Sadie, and Carter to retrieve artefacts from Museums around the New York area. He loves his new life, but he misses swimming more then anything because his previous coach had though that he might've had a chance to really pursue an elite swimming career, though he wouldn't change a thing.

**SO! Those are some of the OC's in this new story, and yes, I'm aware that it should be classified as a crossover, but I decided to just put it under the Percy Jackson category because I feel like it would be more available to anyone who would be interested in reading it. This story will go back and forth between Carmen's and Ben's point of views, and maybe once or twice Jason's or Carter's. Thanks a bunch!**

**-gottaloveLeoV**


	2. Carmen 1

**CARMEN**

Hi. I'm Carmen. Up until a few months ago, I lived a somewhat normal life. As you can expect, that changed very suddenly as I was dragged into the world of gods and monsters. So now, I guess my life is as normal as it can be for a demigod. But anyway. This is my story about how I somewhat saved the world in under four days.

_Honk! Honk! Honk! _

I silently groaned as our alarm blared throughout the cabin, making sure every last campers was up until it shut off, so that meant it was time to get out of bed. I groggily looked around at my cabin mates, just imagining another day filled with arts and crafts, sword training and working in the forges. Classic day for Hephaestus campers.

As I walked around the cabin I stretched like a cat, feeling that wonderful pull of my muscles. I gathered a clean-ish jumpsuit from the trunk at the end of my bed, and headed towards the bathroom before the line started to become out of control. There were a lot more Hephaestus campers ever since Percy made the gods swear to claim their children, but then I couldn't complain much, it meant less work. I changed quickly then walked towards the door, slipping on my sneakers as I hopped down the stairs and started off towards the dinning hall.

Breakfast was the usual foods, nothing special, the regular announcements, and same old campers. After I ate, I put away my plate on the dirty dishes cart and told my older half brother Leo that I was going to go down to the forges early to get started on a project I'd been recently working on. He just gave me a goofy grin and told me not to get hurt. I smiled as I walked away.

Down at the forges, it was smoky and about a zillion degrees inside, but that bothered none of us Hephaestus kids. I was trying to concentrate on sparking a tiny flame to the palm of my hand like Leo had shown me the other day, but didn't succeed. That was alright with me though because I'd just learned about my small amount of power over fire, and it's not like I wanted anything that Leo has.

When I finally gave up with the fire, I began to think about the small knife contraption I was forging: a small Swiss army like blade that could be concealed to look like a lighter. I know it's not the best thing to make a weapon look like, being that I don't smoke and never will, but it's one of the only original ideas I could think of. I mean, Percy already has a pen, Jason has a coin, and Leo has his tool belt. What else is left? I figured that the tiny form of a lighter could come in handy if I ever needed a clever hiding spot.

I don't know how much time passed as I thought of this, but I didn't seem to notice my other siblings piling in from breakfast, ready to work on their own projects, or something that Chiron needed them to do. I sat quietly tinkering with the finished blade as I was attempting to place the last screw, but I just couldn't do it. My hands were too big for such a tiny piece of metal. I thought around to whom I might ask for help, when I finally noticed that Leo was sitting quietly in front of me, building a small Automaton of a dragon. He must have felt me staring because he looked up and gave me a small smile.

"Hey, uh, Leo, can you help me here?" I asked, semi-embarrassed.

"Oh, yeah, sure!" he said, taking the blade from my hands and working in that tiny screw. Once he had the screw in, the blade practically crumpled into the form of the gold lighter with patterns of sparks carved into the side.

"Nice!" he exclaimed before popping the top back open and watching amusedly as the five inch blade re-appeared.

"Thanks," I said, reaching across the table to take it back before he decided he wanted one too. I stood up once the lighter was safely placed back in my hand, and I turned to Leo again, "I'm gonna go down to the arena and try this out, see if it's any good,"

"Ok, don't hurt yourself," he told me as I walked out of the forge, feeling ice cold as I stepped out into the lingering spring air.

"So damn cold out here," I muttered to myself. I didn't expect someone to answer me.

"It wouldn't be cold if you didn't spend all that time in the forges," teased Simon, a son of Apollo.

"Oh just go away Simon," I complained.

"I can't, it's too fun annoying you," he said, giving me a grin. I glared back. "Okkk, never mind then…" he said awkwardly as he walked silently beside me for a few minutes.

"Why are you still here?" I found myself asking.

"I don't know. Something to do? So! Where are you going?"

"The arena," I replied coolly.

"Fun! What for?" he asked excitedly. Are all Apollo kids like this? I think I'm going to kill myself.

"I'm going to try out a new weapon I just made," I told him, hoping he wouldn't inquire further.

"Cool, can I see?" he asked, practically jumping up and down. I swear, his curiosity is going to kill him one day.

"I guess," I said uncomfortably, holding up the golden lighter.

"Aw, awesome!" he said, taking it from my hand and flicking it open. I snatched it back from him as soon as he'd had a good look-over of the inscribed blade that I'd been working on for days. I wasn't going to let someone ruin it when I've only had it for ten minutes. It would take special talent to break a celestial bronze weapon, but from what I've heard, Simon has that ability.

"Yeah, awesome," I said, walking into the arena to see if there was a practice dummy lying around that I could use. I spotted one off in the middle of the arena, and decided I would drag it over to a corner so I wouldn't get in anybody's way. As I was doing so, Simon walked beside me with his hands in his pockets, head down, watching his feet shuffle across the sandy arena floor. After a minute, I had to stop and ask him what the hell he was doing.

"What? Uh, oh, nothing," he murmured after I'd made all the effort to ask in the first place. I wasn't having this kind of an answer.

"No, really, what's wrong Simon?" I asked him again. He sighed, looking slightly down at me.

"I was uh, just wondering if maybe you'd like to uh, go to the fireworks with me,"

I was completely taken aback. Never in my entire life had I thought that Simon would ask me out. Never. But I guess that could explain a few things. I was speechless for a few moments, just trying to find the right way to say no, when someone called my name inside the arena. I turned to face whoever it was, thankful that they had done what they had. I looked around, and saw Vanessa, one of my half sisters waving at me frantically.

"Just a sec," I told Simon quickly before scrambling over towards her across the arena.

"Thank the gods," I panted, arriving in front of her.

"Why?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Simon just asked me to the fireworks," I said, trying to control my breathing. She nodded slowly.

"I see…"

"So, what did you need?" I asked, finally regaining my posture after being slumped down to catch my breath.

"Oh, I got a message from Annabeth to come and find you. She says Chiron wants to speak with you as soon as possible,"

"Well, that sounds absolutely wonderful. I wonder what I did this time," I grumbled as I thanked her and jogged back towards an anxious looking Simon.

"Hey," I said as I approached him, still not sure what I was going to say.

"Hi," he replied quietly. "What was that about?" he asked.

"Oh, Chiron wants to talk to me immediately, so I'd better go," I said, starting to back away from the brown haired boy.

"Wait," he said, catching my arm, "What do you say about fireworks?" he asked, hope still in his voice. I couldn't let him down, but I didn't really want to go either. Simon was sort of my friend, right?

"I-I don't know right now, Simon. I'll catch you later," I said giving him my best apologetic look before I took off out the arena.

**And thus ends chapter one! Tell me what you think!**

**-gottaloveLeoV **


	3. Benjamin 1

**BENJAMIN**

My story has been one for the ages. I mean, who else has discovered that they're a magician and have the chance and opportunity to train in Brooklyn House? Well, that's me. Oh, I'm Ben by the way. Benjamin Meier, son of Brooke and Jonathon Meier, and i hail from Florida.

Ok, enough with the boring introduction stuff. I woke up this morning feeling horrible. My Ba had obviously taken a little trip during the evening without my permission, and it's not a problem but it's just i couldn't remember where. I had a splitting headache and it hurt to open my eyes; the room was too bright. _Maybe i should take a break today,_ i thought as i picked up the phone on my bedside table and pressed the number four. I waited two rings for someone to pick up, and then i heard Sadie's voice on the other side.

"Hello?" she asked, her British accent almost completely gone.

"Hey, it's Ben. I'm not feeling too good today, so i was just thinking i should get some rest so i can be back at training tomorrow," i told her, squinting my eyes closed. She didn't hesitate to answer me,

"Oh, yeah. Sure, ok. I'll let Carter know, and get one of the _Shabti_ down with some breakfast?"

"Thanks Sadie, and yeah, that would be great," i said, hanging up the phone and lying back against my pillows. Almost immediately there was a knock on my door and i said,

"Come in!"

A _Shabti_ walked in my room with a platter of food and set it down on my bedside table, then almost as quickly as it came, it was gone. I sighed as i took a small plate from the tray that was piled high with doughnuts. Ok, I'm not the healthiest person ever, so sue me. I grabbed one, took a bite and as soon as i tasted the powdered sugar, i knew it was a bad decision. I bolted out of my bed and towards my bathroom faster then I've ever run on the track at practice and emptied out the little contents of my stomach.

"Ugh, going to be a bad day," i groaned as i practically crawled back to my bed. Looks like i wouldn't be eating for a while.

A few hours later, i was feeling well enough to get a few pieces of fruit and one or two doughnuts down, so i decided to see if i was feeling well enough to go do some training with Carter and Walt. I got dressed in some of the cotton pyjama clothes and walked slowly out of my room, making my way down the hallway to the training room where Walt and Carter should be about now.

As i walked, i passed Jaz who smiled at me and gave me a small wave of her hand. When i waved back she blushed and hurried down the hallway in the other direction. Girls ...

When i arrived at the training room, i wasn't all that surprised to see that Carter and Walt were busy trying to destroy each other. All in good fun, of course.

"Hey," i called out, but they were too busy and concentrated on their destruction spells to hear me. So i did the only reasonable thing i could think of; i swished my hand, muttered a few words and swept them both off their feet. That seemed enough to get their attention, but i felt a bit queasy as i walked towards them.

"Feeling better?" asked Carter, getting up off the floor.

"Yeah, a bit," i admitted.

"That's good," he said, obviously trying to think of something else to say, "come to train?"

"Um, yeah, if that's not a problem for you guys. You seemed to be going pretty strong there," i said, gesturing to where they had left a path of destruction. Walt cracked a grin as he too got up off the floor,

"I'm getting better at those spells you taught me, Ben,"

"That's good," i told him, smiling.

"So, you ready for some fun?" asked Carter evilly, backing up towards one of the far side walls, rubbing his hands together. I grinned back as i said,

"Oh, you're so gonna lose,"

i backed up towards a statue of the god Horus, who i'd decided -like Carter- to follow. Walt called out from the middle of the room that he was going to sit this one out, and watch 'the masters' kill each other. We just shrugged and took our positions, facing each other across the room.

Yeah, i ended up in the infirmary. Let's just say never try and battle someone who's A) hosted a god, B) saved the world twice, and C) is much stronger then you. Because you will A) break a few bones, B) get a slight concussion from being thrown back against a marble statue, and C) have almost no clue why you agreed to do the battle in the first place. Needless to say i wouldn't be training for at least a day due to my newly broken wrist. Joy! Oh well.

After Jaz had finished healing me as best as she could, she kissed me on the cheek as i left, blushing badly. I walked back to my room with my thoughts lingering on Jaz. She was a nice, girl. Not to mention pretty, but i just couldn't see myself with a girl like her; she was a bit too quiet for me.

I wondered why i'd been thinking of this as i changed into some normal clothes for dinner being as how i missed lunch. As i was putting on my shirt, i accidentally bent my wrist brace the wrong way and swore rather loudly. After i left my room i made my way down to the dinning room and barely noticed as i walked into a couple of people talking heatedly in the middle of the hallway. Only after they saw me and pulled me into an abandoned room did i realize that it was Sadie and Walt.

"Uh, guys?" i asked, really confused and sort of dizzy.

"We were just looking for you," said Sadie bluntly, "We need to discuss something, Ben," she told me as she shoved a chair in my direction. I sat down and Walt started speaking,

"Anubis came to visit Sadie today," he said bitterly, wrapping his arm tightly around Sadie's waist as if making sure i knew that she was his. I nodded once.

"He told me that the god Amun has stumbled upon a prophecy, and he believes that it involves us," she said, gesturing to Walt and I.

"Ok, so what was the prophecy?" i asked.

"He wouldn't tell us, but he said that if we decide to take this quest that we need to contact someone named Chiron from some camp," she said, furrowing her eyebrows together like she does when she's confused about something.

"Isn't Chiron like, some Greek dude?" i asked sceptically, remembering something i'd learnt in Social Studies last year.

"That's what i thought too," she agreed.

"So let me get this straight; Anubis came and contacted you, telling you that Amun has come across a prophecy that he believes we need to fulfil, but we need to talk to some Ancient Greek dude first?" i asked to clear the situation up.

"Pretty much," Walt replied. Sadie spoke,

"Anubis told me that he'd be back later after we told you,"

after she said this something dawned on me,

"Wait, you mean Carter doesn't know?" i asked incredulously. Sadie watched her feet shuffle on the carpet for a while before replying.

"He said that i couldn't tell Carter," she said quietly.

"Why not?"

"Because he said that if we decide to do this, Carter can't go with us," she admitted guiltily.


	4. Authors Note

**Sorry about the Authors note, but I have decided to let one of my friends Apollo122music take over this story, because she is in desperate need of an idea. I will keep this story posted until her 2 day waiting period is over, and then I will delete it from my account, so from then on it is her story. **

**~GottaloveLeoV**


	5. Benjamin 2

**Ok, so Apollo122music is going to be sending me chapters that she's written up until her 2 day waiting period is over. So these next chapters in the next two days are written by her. (And if you're wondering, she's a friend of mine that I convinced to join FF, and she asked me if she could use this story. And since it's fairly new, I told her that she could. And by the way she knows the plot, so nothings going to change.)**

**BENJAMIN**

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Can't bring Carter? Why on earth would we not be able to bring Carter? Amun's prophecy must be pretty messed up.

"So anyone have any idea when Anubis is gonna be back?" I asked.

"Not a clue," Sadie told me.

"Great. So can we go to dinner or what?" I asked, my stomach grumbling as if for backup.

"I guess…" said Walt as I stood up and left them in the room, looking at each other worriedly. It sure seems like everyone has someone but me. Life sucks.

When I sat down at the dinner table, everyone was talking all at once, and it looked like a normal meal here at Brooklyn house, but then I noticed how silent Julian was, and he was _never_ quiet.

"Hey, Julian, you ok buddy?" I asked the eleven year old from Boston. He looked up for a moment, a confused expression on his face before he finally muttered a "Yeah, sure, I'm fine," and then went back to poking at his food. I just shrugged it off and started eating my food like a ravenous beast, being that I haven't been able to keep most things down all day. I was eating just fine until Sadie and Walt walked in, both their lips' red and slightly swollen. When they sat down with no food, Sadie looked at me almost apologetically and I completely lost my appetite. I set my fork down on my plate, and carried it to the dirty dishes bin and left the room.

I started heading back towards my room, but then decided to stop by the infirmary to see if Jaz was there, being that I hadn't seen her a dinner. I had no idea where all of this courage to go talk to her was coming from, but I was almost glad that it was there for once. I knocked on the door of the infirmary and it opened, revealing a very exhausted Jaz.

"Hey," I said awkwardly. Courage gone.

"Hey, come in," she muttered sleepily. I did as told and walked in the door, sliding past Jaz and sitting down on the edge of a hospital bed. As she closed the door I motioned for her to sit in front of me on the bed beside the one that I was occupying. "So what did you want?" she asked me, taking a seat. I found myself shrugging and looking down at my wrist brace once more.

"I don't know. Someone to talk too?" I suggested lamely.

"Well you know me, always here," she sighed sarcastically. I laughed quietly, just trying to make the moment feel less awkward. "So what did you want to talk about?" she inquired.

"Anything. How's your day been?" I asked, thinking of a random subject in my head. She shrugged,

"Alright I guess. I'm exhausted from trying all these different healing spells," she said, gesturing to some amulets laid out on the counter across the room as she lay back on the bed.

"Oh, cool," I said stupidly. I watched her face and I swear I saw a hint of a smile.

"You?" she asked, rubbing her temples.

"Um, not much. Got my butt kicked by Carter today," I told her, trying to make her smile more. But no such luck, only a grimace.

"Yeah, you shouldn't do that anymore," she scolded me, "It makes me tired when I have to heal you," she told me, cracking a small grin.

"Well, I tried my best … sort of," I explained, laughing a bit. She rolled onto her side and smiled at me; her blonde hair tucked back in a side braid. She looked so innocent as we sat there for a few minutes, just looking at each other before I realized I was moving towards the bed she was occupying. It was kind of like tunnel vision, in a way that I was seeing what was happening, but it looked unreal. I noticed she rolled onto her back so there was more room on the bed. I lay down next to her, and my hand immediately pulled her hair out of the braid so that I fell over her shoulder. My arms found a way around her waist as I pulled her underneath me on the bed. I was somewhat aware of her hand weaving its way into my curly dark hair, but I wasn't focusing on anything but her lips at the moment.

They were beautiful in the way that they curved up at the corners like she was always smiling. I liked that. I knew that no matter what, I wanted to feel her lips against mine, the way that they would move with mine. So I took the moment into my own hands, and kissed her softly at first. Then when I felt her responding to the feeling of my lips on hers, I put more pressure on myself to make sure that we were going to get the best out of this kiss. I pulled away from her for only a moment to catch my breath, and in that moment I saw how flushed her cheeks were, how she was breathing irregularly, which worried me.

"You ok?" I whispered. She smiled slightly in the direction of my voice, and with closed eyes responded,

"Great,"

I took that as a yes. I brought my lips down to hers once more and felt her make a slight movement so that she had her other arm around my neck, massaging between my shoulder blades. It might've been weird if anyone else had done this while kissing, but it felt good with Jaz. I moaned as she massaged a knot that had formed presumably while I was battling Carter, and I felt her smile through the kiss.

"Hands of a healer," she murmured in my ear after pulling back. My grip on her waist tightened as I kissed down her neck, making her practically throw her head back against a pillow. As I did so, her other hand was removed from my hair, and along with the other it started massaging it's way down my back, stopping just at my hips. I moved my lips back to hers, and they crashed together almost rhythmically. I could feel her hands massaging their way up my sides, then back down my chest. I was almost shocked when I felt her cool hands under the hem of my shirt, pulling it up my body as her hands moved up my stomach. I got the hint and broke away from her now red and swollen lips, taking off my shirt and throwing it down beside the bed.

I decided to rest my forehead against hers for a minute, just to catch my breath as her hands ran up and down massaging my entire upper body, but never going any lower then my bellybutton. As one of her hands came up my side, I caught it and brushed it against the elastic band of my boxers sticking above my jeans. I let go of her hand, but it didn't move, it just traced the elastic. I groaned as her thumb traced the band directly under my bellybutton, and felt myself shiver. I opened my eyes halfway, and gazed down at her face. Her eyes were looking back up at me, with a small smile on her lips. She didn't look so innocent anymore; not with her lips bright red and swollen, her face flushed and her eyes with that amused glint in them.

"You should go," she whispered to me, taking the hand that had been on my waistband and moving it up my chest, pushing me back a bit. I sighed,

"I should," I agreed, but instead of getting off the bed, I leaned down and kissed her once more, moving into a sitting position and pulling her up with me; still kissing. I broke for air, and found that my hands had made their way to her hips and were massaging small circles with my thumbs. She leaned into my chest, just breathing.

"I don't want you to go," she murmured into my chest. I pressed her body harder against mine as I whispered \,

"Me neither,"

She pulled back a bit, and looked me in the eyes.

"You know, I sleep in here sometimes," she said, glancing over my shoulder, "You can stay … I mean, if you want," she said quickly.

"You mean like, like sleep with each other?" I asked, confused as to whether I was right or not. She blushed bright red.

"Not that way! I meant just like, cuddling and stuff," she explained quietly, brining her gaze down. I pondered the thought for a moment, and decided I had nothing better to do in my own room anyways.

"I-I guess I could," I told her, unsure of myself.

"Thanks, Ben. I really mean it," she said, giving me a small peck on the lips before taking her legs out from underneath where mine had pinned them down, and sliding off the bed. She walked towards a cabinet in the corner of the room, opened one of the top cabinets and pulled out a pair of shorts. After looking in the cabinets for a few minutes, she turned to me, semi-embarrassed.

"I only have pyjama shorts here, I must've left my shirt back in my room," she told me, flushing crimson as she held up the tiniest pair of shorts I'd ever seen. I looked around for a moment before my eyes finally landed on my shirt that had been thrown onto the floor. She must've followed my gaze because she suddenly said,

"Would that be ok?"

I shrugged, turned back to her after picking up the shirt, smiling as I tossed it over to her.

"Thanks," she said apologetically. I just smiled at her once more before she turned her back to me and started to peel off her shirt. I felt like I should've looked away, but what would you have done if you were in my position? And anyways, the most I saw was the blue lacy back of her bra and a slim portion of her matching panties as she pulled on her shorts. I quickly adverted my eyes as she turned around, throwing her clothes into a hamper near the counter. I could see her smirk out of the corner of my eye as she walked towards me,

"I know you were watching me, Ben," she said as she climbed into the bed beside me. "Now, are you going to sleep in your jeans or your boxers?" she asked tiredly.

"Umm, boxers?" I replied, though it was more like a question.

"Kay," she said as I got up and pulled off my jeans, revealing my Finding Nemo boxers. Wow. Hadn't really thought that one through …

"Don't laugh at me, it's a classic movie," I told her indignantly through her giggles as I laid back down next to her. She pulled the blankets up around us and snuggled into my chest as I wrapped an arm around her small waist.

"You know," she started, "You're actually not that bad," she said, moving her hand from her side and letting it hang loosely off of my right side. It felt so good just having her in my arms that I barely registered that she'd just partially offended me.

"Thanks, I guess," I told her, bringing her body closer to mine.

"No problem," she sighed as I leaned down and kissed her softly, like the first time I'd kissed her tonight. She practically melted into the kiss, giving me no objections. When we broke apart, her lips were bright red, again.

"I really like you, Ben," she told me, a serious expression on her face. I didn't know what to say, because I didn't know how I felt.

"I-I … I think I do too," I answered her expecting look.

"Good enough for me," she whispered, taking me by surprise as she flipped on top of me. My hands rubbed her back slowly as she caressed my face, leaving kisses all down my jaw line. I shivered slightly when her lips found the spot just between my ear and my jaw that could always make me melt. She giggled as she kissed it one more time, and then slowly rolled us back onto our sides. She smiled as she gazed up at me through her eyelashes, her cheeks rosy.

"I think I really, really do like you," I told her breathlessly. She snuggled back into my body and I felt a warm hand massaging up and down my back for a few moments. From then on all I could hear was her soft breathing as she slept against my chest. I reached up towards the light switch near the bed and flicked it off, settling down into the bed with my arms wrapped around Jaz, wondering how I could've fallen for this girl in under a day.


End file.
